If there still are Americans who think that it is worth risking their lives to visit Yemen, the State Dept. popped their illusions Tuesday with an urgent warning to get out of the country ASAP.

“The Department urges U.S. citizens to defer travel to Yemen and those U.S. citizens currently living in Yemen to depart immediately,” it stated in a travel warning posted Tuesday morning. The warning noted “the high security threat level in Yemen due to terrorist activities and civil unrest.”

The State Dept. ordered the departure of non-emergency U.S. government personnel from the country.

“Demonstrations continue to take place in various parts of the country and may quickly escalate and turn violent.” The advisory added, “Terrorist organizations, including Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), continue to be active throughout Yemen. The U.S. government remains highly concerned about possible attacks on U.S. citizens… and U.S. facilities, businesses, and perceived U.S. and Western interests…. An ongoing risk of kidnapping exists throughout Yemen.“

The fourth U.S. drone attack on eight days killed four Al Qaeda-linked terrorists in eastern Yemen Monday while the terrorist network has succeeded in making the United States appear a weakling by threats that forced it to continue a shutdown of nearly 20 embassies and consulates in the Middle East.

One of the four terrorists had been placed on Yemen’s Most Wanted list of 25 Al Qaeda suspect.
American media have reported that intercepted communications between Al Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri and the head of the Yemeni branch sparked a global travel alert.

United States diplomatic missions in Israel reopened Monday after a day-long closure due to what was deemed a credible Al-Qaeda threat, but the State Department extended the closure of 19 other diplomatic missions in the Middle East through Aug. 10 “out of an abundance of caution.”

“This is not an indication of a new threat stream, merely an indication of our commitment to exercise caution and take appropriate steps to protect our employees including local employees and visitors to our facilities,” said the statement issued by State Dept. spokesman Jen Psaki.

The U.S. State Department on Aug. 3 issued a global travel alert for American citizens. The alert warned of possible terror attacks by al Qaeda operatives and affiliated terror groups from Sunday through the end of August.

Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, in an interview Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” said the electronic chatter among terror suspects about a possible attack was “very reminiscent of what we saw pre-9/11.”